An ebook released Tuesday takes an inside look at the email correspondence of Apple founder Steve Jobs. “Letters to Steve: Inside the Email Inbox of Apple’s Steve Jobs”
($2.99), by CNN technology writer Mark Milian, explores how the tech
innovator fielded emails from fans — and how he handled the missing AppleiPhone 4 prototype dilemma with Gizmodo editors.
Jobs often responded to customer emails directly, which is highly unorthodox for someone in his position. Many ended up online.
Milian spent months scouring the Internet, looking at blog postings
and message boards for email correspondences, and spoke to many of those
who were lucky enough to get a response. The book, available for the
Kindle, is a compilation of what he found.
Mashable spoke with Milian about what it was like to receive an email
from the former Apple chief executive — and what kind of questions
generally triggered him to respond.Mashable: What trends did you notice about Jobs’ email responses while doing your research?Milian: Steve Jobs is often described as a
perfectionist, and he was known to be obsessive about typography. But he
occasionally made typos. He was also inconsistent about whether he’d
sign his name or include “Best” in his sign-off signature. Some of the
sources I interviewed for the book believed he had assistants help him
with his mail, but I didn’t find any evidence to support that. Mashable: What type of emails grabbed his attention? Milian: Flattery certainly helped people get a
response. However, some would sent combative emails and still get
replies, even if they were unpleasant. It’s obvious that Jobs cared very
deeply about many of the topics he took the time to address. He cared
about customers having exceptional experiences with their products and
Apple’s repair system. But he also cared about things you’d never guess
he had a passion for. For example, he’d write long missives about Flash
or the H.264 video codec or the Objective-C programming language. If
someone happened to touch on a topic he was engrossed in at a certain
point, it got his attention.Mashable: Is it unusual for someone with such executive power to field customer service inquiries?Milian: There’s a chapter in the book about how Jobs
directly handled customer-service inquiries by e-mail and occasionally
by phone. Sure, you’ll find some CEOs on Twitter and Google+, but you
won’t see them personally helping a customer get their laptop repaired.
It fits with Apple’s mission statement to make sure customers have a
great experience. If someone’s iPod is broken, that person is not having
a good experience. Jobs at times felt like it was his duty to handle
those types of emails.Mashable: Which email exchange sticks out most in your mind?Milian: Steve Jobs loved to end emails with a zing.
An email I got exclusively for the ebook came from a man that runs a
company. The man wrote to a bunch of people at Apple including Jobs
about a flaw in the App Store’s ranking system. Jobs replied and
explained some changes coming to the App Store, and then ended his email
with a great jab: “I notice that your app has not received great
reviews.”
He also played every angle in an attempt to get that [prototype
iPhone 4] back, and it showed his brilliant negotiating tactics.
However, Gizmodo was not about to give that phone up without a fight.Mashable: What is it that most shocked you about the emails?Milian: I was a bit surprised that so many people
would so readily publish private correspondences without Jobs’
permission. I can see why, of course. He’s an icon, and people were
excited when they received a message from him. But I found it unusual
that many didn’t think twice about forwarding these e-mails to reporters
or posting them to their own blogs.
[via mashable]